Can pasture-fed livestock farming practices improve the ecological condition of grasslands?

Innovative farmers are adopting agro-ecological approaches to producing beef which they believe are better for biodiversity and soils. Lisa Norton (UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology) and colleagues investigated the validity of these claims by comparing their grassland to those across the wider countryside surveyed as part of the national GB Countryside Survey.  Public concerns about the environmental impacts of meat production add to the … Continue reading Can pasture-fed livestock farming practices improve the ecological condition of grasslands?

Can ‘Citizen Scientists’ play a valid role in conservation management?

The emergence of citizen science in biodiversity monitoring has transformed the methods by which biodiversity surveys can be conducted. With the recent development of automatic visual identification tools, Pierre Bonnet and colleagues present two distinct case studies implementing citizen science and the use of Pl@ntNet, an automatic plant identification platform. This article is part of the BES cross-journal special feature on Citizen Science. Effective monitoring … Continue reading Can ‘Citizen Scientists’ play a valid role in conservation management?

Solutions science – Ciencia de soluciones

Claire Wordley (Conservation Evidence project, University of Cambridge) looks at evaluation and evidence in testing interventions and asks the question, ‘What works in conservation’? A Spanish version  of this post is also available. Evidence in conservation: does it matter? What do scaring juvenile offenders, giving steroids to head trauma patients, and bat bridges all have in common? They are all examples of interventions that were … Continue reading Solutions science – Ciencia de soluciones

Ensuring sustainable açaí fruit production in the Amazon river delta

With açaí fruit becoming increasingly popular, it is important to understand how farming management practices are affecting vital pollination services. Associate Editor, Ainhoa Magrach comments on the recent article, Anthropogenic disturbance of tropical forests threatens pollination services to açaí palm in the Amazon river delta by Campbell et al. Worldwide the demand for the berries of the açaí palm is increasing. These anti-oxidant rich foods have … Continue reading Ensuring sustainable açaí fruit production in the Amazon river delta